09 November, 2017
Actor Kevin Spacey is facing more career problems as the number of accusations of sexual wrongdoing against him increase.
Friday, a major movie company said it planned to replace the actor in a film set for release next month.
Sony Pictures says it will remove Spacey from the film project All the Money in the World. It says it will re-shoot his parts with Academy Award winning actor Christopher Plummer.
Movie director Ridley Scott is working quickly to make the changes to the film in order to meet the planned release date of December 22.
In the movie, Spacey played the late oil businessman J. Paul Getty. The film tells the story about the kidnapping of Getty's grandson, John Paul Getty III, in 1973. Getty refused to pay for his grandson's release.
Sony announced earlier that it was withdrawing the movie from the American Film Institute film festival in Los Angeles.
Several movie and television companies have cut ties with Spacey after the actor Anthony Rapp accused him of sexual assault. The incident is reported to have taken place in 1986 when Rapp was 14 years old.
In a statement, Spacey said he did not remember such an event but that he was sorry if it happened.
Since then, more than 10 men have accused Spacey of sexual wrongdoing.
The movie and television streaming company Netflix has since dismissed Spacey from its series House of Cards and withheld another Spacey film.
On Wednesday, a former television news reporter, Heather Unruh, accused Spacey of sexually attacking her son last year. The incident reportedly took place on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.
Unruh says a criminal investigation is taking place. However, Nantucket police are barred from confirming or denying the case because it involves sexual assault accusations.
Unruh said, "I just want to see Kevin Spacey go to jail." She added that she wanted this "not just for my son, but for the many others."
British news reports say police in London are investigating sexual assault claims from 2008.
At least two other men have accused Spacey of sexually molesting them when they were teenagers.
I'm Lucija Millonig.
Kenneth Schwartz and Richard Green reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
assault –n. carrying out an act of violence or threatening to do violence against someone
streaming –adj. related to send video content such as movies, television shows or live material over the internet
harassment –n. to repeatedly have unwanted interactions with someone
molesting –v. to harm someone in a sexual way
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